Neji or Lee?
by JohnD42
Summary: This is a short story about Team Gai. It is about whom Tenten ends up with at the end of the story, Neji or Lee? You decide. NejiTen, LeeTen.


**Neji or Lee?**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_, nor do I profit from the writing of this fan fiction.

♥Read it and write a review telling me who Tenten ended up with and why.♥

His hand held her gentle body from the waist, seductively drawing her attention; as if she could ignore the man of her dreams. He looked into her light brown eyes and saw what no one else could: profound love from his darling kunoichi.

Tenten's heart raced; she couldn't believe it. They had known each other for some time, years, but no love sparks had been felt by either of them. And now, she could barely keep herself from him.

His body was strong and masculine. She liked him, a lot. He made her feel like no one else could. Tenten had noticed it ever since the chunin exams, but now she realized that her affection had been there all along. It had only been more recently that this became clear.

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It had all started a couple of weeks ago as Team Gai practiced in its usual manner, Lee sparring with Neji while Tenten practiced using her weapons on various targets.

As usual, Tenten hit all the bull's-eyes while Lee got his butt handed to him by Neji. Lee had just recovered from the whole ordeal with Gaara, so he couldn't open the gates or perfectly use his high speed taijutsu. His sparring was more of a warming up so that he could return as a full taijutsu ninja when the time came, which for him seemed to take forever.

As Lee contemplated his life as a ninja and Neji thought of how strong Naruto and the others seemed to be, Tenten was preoccupied with similar thoughts.

"I wonder if Lee-kun is going to be okay," she asked herself. "I hope so, but only time will tell… Whoa, Gai sensei sure is beating the heck out of that tree. Don't his fists hurt?"

As her daydreaming and kunai flinging continued, Lee was repulsed by palm rotation after getting too close to Neji. He was sent flying to the vicinity of Tenten's weapons practice area. Lee was too slow and could do nothing but try to block an incoming kunai.

He merely flinched as blood spattered from his forearm and onto his body. It didn't hurt much, but then again his body was numb due to Neji's infernal chakra-blocking attacks. He removed the kunai as painlessly as possible.

"Lee! Are you ok?" Tenten's scream was heard by all of Team Gai. They quickly turned, intrigued by her yell.

"Do not worry Tenten, it is merely a flesh wound. My springtime of youth shall not be cut short!" he smiled and gave a bloody thumbs-up using his uninjured arm.

Lee was just as hyper as ever, though Tenten felt guilty about causing him harm. Much blood had splattered and she could tell Lee's right forearm had been struck.

"Ok team, were done for the day! Lee, even if only a minor wound it should be taken care of. Besides, Kakashi challenged me today to a bloody fist contest. Don't worry, as long as I'm in my springtime of youth, he can't win!"

Gai's statement was promptly followed by his trademarked nice guy pose as well as a blinding smile. He quickly disappeared as he went to meet and beat Kakashi at his own challenge.

Neji just looked at the antics of his teacher with amusement. Meanwhile Tenten had run to Lee to take care of his wound.

"It doesn't look too bad Lee-kun, I can take care of it no problem."

"Are you sure it is not too bothersome, Tenten-chan?"

"No, it's the least I could do," she smiled at the boy as he blushed at her concern.

Neji couldn't help but be a little jealous at the attention his teammate was getting. He decided to leave, unaware of the events to follow.

"Well if nobody minds, I'll be leaving for the day."

Neji left as the others shouted goodbyes, though still preoccupied with each other.

"Lee, I'm almost done. But we'll need to replace the bandages on your forearm, if you don't mind."

"Um, of course not!"

With that, Tenten unraveled the long bandages that wrapped around the boys forearm and hand. As she finished, she noticed the scarred and bruised flesh.

"Lee, what did you do to yourself?" she looked up at the boy whose hands she held with hers. He blushed at her prolonged touch and smiled.

"It's nothing, really; minor scars from my previous training," he tried to pull away to save her more concern but she held onto his hands.

His hands were rugged, scarred and bruised; her hands were soft, warm and seemingly fragile. She examined his hands, and let them go. She cleaned the cut, applied antibiotics, and re-bandaged both his forearms.

"That should do it, but I want you to be more careful from now on Lee."

"Thanks a lot, Tenten-chan!" the boy shouted and blushed again. She still held his hands.

"I wonder why he's blushing so much. Oh well, maybe it's just 'cause he's Lee," she thought as Lee smiled.

"Anyways, it's late and I have to get going, goodbye Lee," she let go of his hands and turned to leave, took a few steps but he rushed towards her.

"Um… Tenten-chan, do you mind if I walk you home? A pretty girl should not be walking in the streets so late."

"It's only 7 PM, plus I'm a ninja. What is he thinking? And did he just call me a 'pretty girl'?" Tenten's mind analyzed Lee and his intentions, but saw no harm.

"Not at all, let's go."

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It had been some days and Lee was almost completely healed. He had not gone to Konoha's hospital for fear of further hospitalization, though that was highly unlikely and it could have reduced his healing time considerably. He still trained with Neji and was careful not to over exert himself or his injured arm.

Tenten was taking a break, she had run out of kunais and other long range weapons, and just stared at the shinobi whose determination never failed to surprise her. She smiled as Lee struggled but continued his efforts to beat Neji.

"Come on, Lee-kun!" she cheered and flailed her hands wildly in an endeavor to raise Lee's dropping confidence.

Neji turned to look at her and wondered why she cheered for a loser like Lee, who always lost to him. He returned to his sparring partner and aimed to destroy his confidence completely.

Neji barely blocked one of Lee's strong kicks, apparently Tenten was a good motivator, and countered by blocking the chakra paths on his legs. Lee wobbled as his legs went numb and lost control. He kneeled to Neji's might.

"That's enough Neji; training is over. We have an S-rank mission to complete." Gai appeared in a flash of speed. He had a serious look on his face.

"Gai-sensei, please let us continue!" Lee shouted. He didn't want to stop just because his legs had given up. And certainly not in front of Tenten; he had his reasons not to.

"No, Lee. You can continue this later, but now we have a mission to do."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

"This mission will test your ability to work in two-man teams. Tenten, go with Neji. Lee, you're with me."

Lee was torn: he wanted to go with Tenten, but Gai was his beloved mentor. He couldn't make up his mind and before long the mission got under way.

"Ok then. We must travel near the Village Hidden in Sound and comb the border for incoming spies and other invaders. Apparently, Orochimaru has decided to come back. We don't know why, but we must not let anybody sneak into the Land of Fire."

"Orchimaru?" asked Neji. Everybody was as perplexed as him when Gai mentioned his name.

"He is an S-rank missing nin. Don't worry about him though, his minions are the enemies. Anbu Black Ops will take over our mission as soon as they arrive at our destination. Gather whatever you need to survive, and come back here to start our mission."

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"Tenten, what's taking you so long?" thought Neji as he waited outside of Tenten's domicile.

Just then, she stepped out wearing her usual clothes. However, she had put on some makeup, including lipstick (Neji noticed it instantly), that made his heart skip a beat. It didn't show in his face, but then again almost nothing did.

"What do you think?" she asked smiling at him.

"About what?" he asked trying to play it cool.

"I put on make up. Tsunade is the greatest kunoichi and she looks great at the same time. So I figured, why can't I? Do I look great or what?" she asked again, not really expecting him to complement her. She also did it to play with him and his cool façade.

"Come on Tenten, we have to go."

"Aren't I pretty? Don't I look cute?" she continued to instigate him. She loved the fact that instead of blushing, he turned paler. It was that he tried to stop himself from blushing that caused this.

"Let's just go."

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He continued the whole way there quietly stealing a glance at her once or twice when she wasn't looking or even using his Byakugan to do so. He thought he was as careful as possible, but then it happened.

"Oh, hi Lee!" she yelled at the ninja walking pensively a few yards from her.

"Um, hi Tenten-chan! Hi Neji-kun! Are you guys re--" he stopped as he noticed something peculiar. Neji had activated his Byakugan.

"Neji, what's wrong? What do you see?" whispered Lee.

Tenten noticed what he was whispering about when she turned to Neji, whom immediately deactivated his kekkei genkai (bloodline ability) and turned paler.

"Yeah, Neji, what's wrong?" she said sarcastically to the pale shinobi. She had an idea of what he would be using his Byakugan for. She knew there would be no reason to use it beyond private reasons, since there were no enemy ninja there or something of the sort that would require the dojutsu

"Um…" he could think of nothing because the image of Tenten that he had acquired through his Byakugan was burn in his mind.

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They finally arrived to the training grounds. Neji had made up some lie after his mind got unstuck. Tenten didn't believe it but pretended to, while Lee gullibly ate it up.

"Alright team, let's go! Lee, come with me. Neji, Tenten, take this map and comb through the highlighted areas. When you encounter the reinforcements, meet us at the rendezvous point so we can come back together. If you bump into trouble that you can't handle, retreat temporarily and alert Konoha officials. Got it?!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" responded Team Neji.

Tenten hugged Lee and bid him farewell, for she knew the danger this mission represented. Lee blushed and promised to come back unharmed, while Gai gave his nice guy pose and smiled at them. Both teams left immediately after goodbyes to commence the mission that ended when the Anbu replaced them.

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Neji and Tenten had been walking for a while now, combing the areas marked on their map. A few sound shinobi had been taken care of. Nothing really important, a few generic ninjas that seemed more like distractions than real enemies. The whole mission gave the two a chance to talk about things they would never have discussed otherwise.

"So Neji, what do you see with your Byakugan? Any enemies around?" she teased him, though he didn't quite catch it. He was too absorbed into this mission to notice her remarks. It was a good thing too, for a worthwhile ninja caught her of guard and nearly took her out.

Shurikens flew towards Tenten as she spoke to Neji, cutting her shirt and penetrating her skin. It was a sound ninja dressed in a peculiarly dark garb. He had on black trousers as well as a black jounin jacket. He wore his forehead protector, surprisingly, on his forehead. His eyes were as dark as his clothes, as well as his hair. His face too was covered by something dark. He wore black gloves and boots. Neji saw him and warned Tenten of his location.

"Tenten! Right there, on the Oak tree. He's on the right hand side, on the second biggest branch." She could see the spot Neji pointed to and spoke of, but no sound ninja.

"I don't see him, what is he doing?"

"What? He's just standing there, throw a kunai to the spot I described to you."

She threw a couple of kunais, unsure of where to strike and afraid to use up her weapons. The shinobi dodged them easily, then made half a dozen hand seals and moved his hands in the manner shurikens are thrown.

Neji saw the bright blue chakra shurikens heading towards them, he realized Tenten couldn't see them, pushed her away and used rotation to stop them.

It was the wrong thing to do.

As Neji's palm rotation started up, the chakra kunais were stopped, but they were a mere distraction. The sound ninja had disappeared and reappeared with a _boom_ sound behind Tenten, ready to decapitate her.

Tenten had replaced herself with a look alike she had summoned from one of her scrolls. The shinobi decapitated it and was engulfed by an explosion that would've killed most ninjas. Too bad it was only a mud clone.

As she looked around for him, Neji had stopped and was doing the same.

"Do you see him?" she asked.

"No… he must have left. We have to alert Konoha of the invader and his techniques. The Anbu should be here any second, as soon as they arrive we'll leave. Tenten, are you o--"

Neji still had his Byakugan activated, but was cut near the neck and in the leg by something that moved too fast for him to see, let alone dodge.

Blood spattered over his beige clothes as a deep _boom_ sound followed the attack. He had no idea how or what the enemy had done, or if he could protect himself.

The dark shinobi appeared before them, gloating.

"Hah, the great Byakugan and its prized genius fall before my great kekkei genkai, pathetic," the ninja spoke to them with contempt and his ragged breath was an obvious sign of his wariness.

He disappeared again, a deep _boom_ heard after he left. Neji used his Byakugan to try to follow him, but he disappeared from his field of vision immediately.

"Tenten, this guy is moving too fast for me to follow with my eyes. We have to retreat for the moment."

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They managed to run and hide inside a cave-like feature near the side of a river. As they later found out, the sound ninja had run to provided reinforcements for his team. The team had encountered Gai and Lee, whom proceeded to eliminate them with great ease. The dark ninja had been the strongest of the bunch, and had required them to open more than a couple of gates to deal with.

"Neji, we need to take care of your wound. I can provide some basic aid, but we'll need to go back to Konoha soon."

"Thanks, Tenten. We need to take care of your injuries as well. You've lost more blood than I," he said as he pointed to her general chest area.

They didn't speak for a while, Tenten needed to take care of Neji while he needed to concentrate on looking for enemies near their hiding place. She was careful not to reveal too much of him while treating his leg. It was near the thigh area that he had been struck.

"You should be okay for now, Neji."

"Thanks a lot, Tenten. I don't know what I'd have done without you. Um… do you need assistance with your injuries?" Neji said with a pale face.

"No, no, no. I can take care of it myself."

"Ok then, I'll be outside looking out for the enemy," Neji left but stayed sufficiently close to the cave to protect her.

She removed her top to take her of her wounds. Meanwhile Neji used his Byakugan to look for enemies, as well as for less than noble reasons.

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After treating to their injuries and meeting the Anbu replacements, they left for the rendezvous point. There they met Gai and Lee, both of which were concerned by their state. Lee offered to carry Tenten on his back or on his arms, whichever she preferred.

"Um no, I'll be ok. I just need to get back to Konoha and to a hospital," she replied nervously to Lee, who then offered to do the same for Neji.

When they arrived at Konoha, Neji and Tenten were taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. They were discharged the next week since their injuries had mostly healed. They were given a few days off by the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, whom had also treated them.

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"I can't believe he asked me out! I didn't know he liked me… I can't believe I said yes!" her thoughts were full of glee, by now she had nearly forgotten of her experience with the dark ninja.

Her teammate had recently revealed that he liked her and had asked her out. It was something she hadn't expected, but she still said yes. They were going to a restaurant, one that specialized in curry, for their date.

After their initial date, they had been to many other places. Now, her teammate had become her boyfriend and they saw each other every day. It was after a training session that she had invited him back to her house, while her parents were away, for a homemade dinner prepared by her. They departed to their specific home, and he met her back at her house.

He complemented her cooking, as well as her overall appearance. Tenten looked different than her usual tomboyish self, but she looked beautiful in his eyes no matter what she wore.

After dinner, they decided to go for a walk. It was atop the Hokage monument that he took her from the waist and kissed her for the first time.

**The End**


End file.
